Root Minerals : Moisture Infusion Lipstick & IntensifEYE Me Natural Mascara

After a long year stuck inside, there is no better feeling than being able to go out again, and for us at The Amazing Blog, this means putting a little more effort into ourselves and our appearance! That is why we went on the hunt for new and unique beauty products to break us out of our post-pandemic slump. Root Minerals caught our attention with its multitude of natural products. We decided to try the Moisture Infusion Lipstick in the shade Strawberry Kiss and the IntensifEYE Me Natural Mascara. 

Root Minerals is a vegan makeup brand that is “inspired by love.” The company, which is based in the UK, was founded by Jay Baharj in 2016. Jay’s story starts with the love for his wife and a fascination with natural ingredients. When Jay’s wife, Amy, used makeup, her sensitive skin would have a bad reaction, eventually leading her to stop wearing makeup altogether. Jay began to wonder if other people suffered this way and why makeup couldn't benefit the skin. These questions drove Jay to research many different “natural” brands that contained many harmful and unnecessary ingredients. Out of frustration and love for his wife, Jay founded Root Minerals to create makeup products that would be cruelty-free, ethical, and all-natural. Jay now has a well-established makeup line featuring over 60 super pigment eyeshadows, 30 organically infused lipsticks, 36 foundation shades, and more! Root Minerals proudly holds the vegan certification and uses its brand to advocate against animal cruelty. Root Minerals began with a story of love and continues to promote love through its natural and ethical products.

The first product that we tried was the Moisture Infusion Lipstick in the shade Strawberry Kiss.  All of the lipsticks in this collection are infused with organic oils and plant-based waxes, which protect the lips from the sun and provide staying power for all-day colour. Natural oils and waxes are also beneficial due to their moisturising and nourishing power, setting apart the Moisture Infusion Lipstick from others that dry out our lips as the day goes by. Some of the most notable ingredients in these products are castor oil, shea butter, and iron oxide colouring. Castor oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acid ricinoleic acid, which helps retain the skin's moisture by preventing water loss through the outer layer of the skin. When used in lipstick, castor oil keeps the lips hydrated and helps avoid the product's bleeding around the lips. Shea butter is an easily absorbed ingredient that goes to work at treating and preventing chapped lips. The fatty acids and antioxidants found in shea butter help smooth lips and create a soft and supple look. Iron oxide colouring is a natural colourant that comes from the oxidation of sedimentary rocks, leaving us with brilliant shades of silver, red, yellow, brown, and more. Iron oxide is moisture resistant, making it perfect for the gym or summer heatwaves. The shade Strawberry Kiss, a dark metallic orangey-red colour, and is reminiscent of the natural wonders left behind by oxidised rock. The colour is earthy and rich, perfect for a pop of colour and has a fabulous bit of shimmer for this festive period. The application was smooth and felt nourishing even hours after applying. 

The second product that we tried was the IntensifEYE Me Natural Mascara. This cleverly named mascara has a specially designed brush and formula meant to thicken and darken lashes. This multifaceted mascara is waterproof, quick-drying, and perfect for sensitive eyes or contact wearers. The unique formula contains natural plant oils and vegetable waxes for long-lasting wear. One ingredient that stood out to us is oryza sativa bran oil. This bran oil helps to repair dress and brittleness while contributing to hair growth. This oil helps treat and nourish the eyelashes while being worn, making a multi-purposeful product. In addition to healing the lashes, the mascara can be used as an eyeliner due to its creamy texture or used to eliminate white hairs. We liked how the formula was buildable, which meant we could add more or less mascara to create a day or night look without the mascara clumping. Just a few swipes left our lashes fuller and thicker, and the creaminess of the product made for a smooth application. If you are looking to add mineral makeup into your routine, then these natural and ethical products will be for you. To purchase the Moisture Infusion Lipstick for £25, click here. To purchase the IntensifEYE Me Mascara for £25, click here.

Circulove : CALM Face & Eye Serum

At The Amazing Blog new skincare ingredients always pique our interest, and when we learnt about this CALM Face & Eye Serum by Circulove, with its biotic actives designed to deliver probiotic benefits directly into the skin – we knew this was a must-try! 

Circulove is a Scandinavian brand that was founded in Finland in 2020. Where a group of designers, natural cosmetics chemists, beauticians, nurses and lifestyle professionals have come together to create this brand to help people live a “more sustainable and purposeful lifestyle while enhancing their natural beauty.” The idea of a circular lifestyle is the basis of Circulove. The concept of circularity focuses on cycles in the sense that things should be reused and recycled. Circularity considers entire ecosystems, like social, cultural, natural, and human capital, and the benefits of these systems. With this ideal in mind, their goal from day one has been “to create clean, biotic skincare products with no compromises.” Päivi Paltola, the founder of Circulove, was concerned with the increased occurrences of greenwashing and began investigating circular design principles to try and create “more purposeful beauty.”  Circulove is committed to following the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), which are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future. Anyone can see their commitment to these values and goals, with toxic-free products and less waste; they use 30% ocean waste plastic for their recyclable mono-material bottles and organic by-products from the food industry for ingredients. The plastic used is recycled waste plastic collected from the Java Sea, meaning Circulove contributes to the ocean clean-up movement. They also promote up-cycling and transparent supplier networks, scrutinizing their own carbon footprint, by using 85% of Finnish or local Scandinavian ingredients in their products. Paltola says it best, “we know we are on a lifelong learning journey, and we believe that every action counts.” They are also FI-NATURA certified.

The CALM Face & Eye Serum hydrates, soothes and protects the skin. What makes this serum ‘different’ is that it combines vegan prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics with eight luxury plant extracts and oils to help reset the skin taking it back to its original and natural state. Prebiotics are compounds that induce the growth or activity of beneficial microorganisms and may help improve the skin’s barrier function. Applying topical prebiotics and probiotics to the skin is the most effective and direct way to affect the skin’s microbiome. Postbiotics include enzymes, peptides, and cell surface proteins and are a by-product of the fermentation process of the probiotics. The ingredients in this serum are fermented for 3-5 weeks, which is the chemical breakdown process of the prebiotics and postbiotics. Following the fermentation process,the plant extracts and oils are then added. The CALM Face & Eye Serum helps reduce redness, creates long-lasting moisture, protects against free radicals, and balances the skin’s pH and oiliness. The beauty of this serum is that it is suitable for all skin types, and can significantly help those with sensitive, rosacea, couperose or atopic skin. The CALM Face & Eye Serum contains a few other key ingredients. The antioxidant and flavonoid plant extracts are derived from lady’s mantle,  blueberry and lingonberry. The pure oils here are raspberry seed, jojoba and sunflower, hemp, and rosehip all of which are rich in essential fatty acids such as omegas 3 & 6, vitamin E and antioxidants. The vegan prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics come from fermented oats and tapioca; the slow fermentation process ensures that these ingredients stay nutrient-dense. Beyond these ingredients, Circulove has provided a detailed ingredients list that includes the country of origin (the list can be found here ) where the brand delivers full transparency for each product - and we’re obsessed! In their efforts to create sustainable products, the packaging is airless, designed specifically for their all-natural skincare, and this design lets you use every last drop of the product since the bottom of the packaging rises as you use it. The simple white opaque bottle ensures that the natural ingredients retain their integrity. Each of Circulove’s products are free from mineral oil, parabens, phthalates, sulphates, silicones, chemical sunscreen, nano zinc oxide colourants, added perfumes and GMOs. 

To use the CALM Face & Eye Serum apply to clean skin on the face, under the eyes and around the lips - both day and night. NB: We found that the airless pump required a quick 5-10 pumps to activate before using. It can be used alone for combination or oily skin, or if like us you have normal to dry skin, then use it prior to moisturiser or face oil. The fragrance gave us a delicious hint of berries combined with green tea. It felt like a lotion to apply and absorbed quickly as It’s light to the touch, but super-hydrating once on the skin, and yes, we’d say it’s yet another of our #amazingfinds. The 30ml CALM Face & Eye Serum is available for purchase directly from Circulove’s website here for € 59.00.

Vemel: Intense Age Repair Eye & Lip Cream

Did you know that the human body consists of over 60% water? And at The Amazing Blog, we understand the importance of staying hydrated. Although drinking water is essential for our functioning, did you know that taking the water out of our skincare routines can benefit both us and the environment? Today we'd like to introduce Vemel, a brand who have developed waterless skincare, in their quest to create natural, sustainable and eco-friendly products.

Vemel is a British brand founded by wife and husband Agi and James Miel. After years of struggling with various medications and skincare products to treat their children's eczema and allergies, the couple sought a natural "antidote to the chemical overload" in which they found themselves immersed. They took a holistic approach in a search to reduce the number of chemicals and toxins in their children's lives. This journey led them to launch Vemel, where co-founder Agi Miel said, "The whole ethos of Vemel brand is based around honesty. Our labels are simple, clear and transparent, our ingredients are listed in common English names." All products are waterless and made from organic, natural, vegan, and food-grade ingredients that are free from skin irritants, such as perfumes, essential oils, and alcohols. In addition, the brand offers packaging that is 100% plastic-free, even providing reusable pipettes with orders to increase their sustainability. The jars, bottles, and boxes that Vemel uses for packaging are also completely recyclable. As Vemel formulates their products with natural ingredients, they're suitable for all ages, genders, and skin types, meaning that entire family can share the same products, reducing waste. Vemel does more than just focus on sustainability: cutting out all essential oils also means that Vemel products are kinder to aquatic life and ecosystems, which are negatively affected by some these oils. 

Vemel's approach to creating natural skincare lies in their commitment to developing waterless products. Did you know that when water is added to skincare products, emulsifiers are required so that the water can thoroughly mix with the rest of the product. However, emulsifiers promote the growth of bacteria, so preservatives are necessary to limit their growth. These preservative can cause skin irritation, disrupt the skin's barrier, and even accelerate ageing. In addition, most beauty products are 80-90% water, so eliminating the water in the products means that you're using a more potent and efficient version that offers more substantial effects and lasts longer too. Water can also dry out the skin as it evaporates and takes its natural and necessary oils along with it. Removing the water from skincare increases hydration, prevents irritation, and reduces breakouts, especially in sensitive skin. Along with benefits to your skin, waterless beauty offers significant benefits to the environment. By 2025, an estimated 5 billion people - two-thirds of the world's population - will be affected by water shortage, and today, about 1.1 billion people lack reliable and adequate access to water. With most skincare products on the market consisting of such a high volume of water, waterless brands like Vemel are doing their part to help with water conservation. Going waterless also impacts the packaging of products: products with water require more complicated packaging to prevent evaporation, so eliminating water means that we can skip this extra packaging and reduce our waste. That said, Formula Botanica (an accredited formulation school), do make a good point, saying that “it’s impossible to avoid the water footprint and for any beauty formulation to be truly waterless. The water required to grow raw ingredients and process, ship, use and dispose of any of your cleansers and scrubs will far outweigh any water savings gained from excluding water in the formulation itself.”⁣ 

We received Vemel's best-selling Intense Age Repair Eye & Lip Cream, which was recently announced as a Gold Winner of the "Best Vegan Eye Product" in the 2021 Global Green Beauty Awards and the "Best Healing & Soothing Lip Treatment" in the 2021 Beauty Shortlist Awards. The Intense Age Repair Eye & Lip Cream is a certified organic, vegan, and cruelty-free cream that targets the sensitive parts of our skin that we usually neglect. It encourages collagen, elastin, and lipid production to soften the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The main ingredient is organic murumuru Butter, made from extracting the fat from the Strocaryum Murumuru palm tree native to the Amazon Rainforest. This butter is rich in vitamin C and A, as well as fatty acids like oleic acid that keep skin hydrated, restore elasticity, and provide rich moisture to help with dry and cracked skin. The cream also contains organic aloe vera oil. Aloe oil is obtained through a macerating process, where the aloe vera is infused into a carrier oil. It has very different properties to that of aloe gel as it contains the oil-based components of the plant instead of the water-based components found in the gel. This ingredient is rich in phytochemicals and compounds that stimulate growth and produce collagen in the skin that encourages repair and rejuvenation. One of the other key ingredients in the Intense Age Repair Eye & Lip Cream is organic kiwi seed oil. Kiwi fruits are full of nutrients like vitamins C, E, and K, and these nutrients help to plump up and reduce the appearance of fine lines. The oil also contains a good balance of omega-6 and 3 making it a gentle ingredient that reduces any skin inflammation. The last superstar of this cream is organic Argan wax. Rich in vitamin E, phenols, carotenes, and fatty acids, this Argan moisturises skin, reduces the visibility of wrinkles, repairs skin damage, and soothes irritated skin Finally, there is microalgae extract (obviously not organic) which are a potent neutraliser of free radicals, anti-pollution and help to removes toxins. This Intense Age Repair Eye & Lip Cream contains no added fragrances or essential oils, meaning that it's suitable for all skin types and won't expose your skin to any irritants. To apply the cream, you can use the reusable bamboo spatula provided, to apply a pea-sized amount to the contours around your eyes and lips. We used this morning and evening, alone, to ensure we're got its full potency! It felt like a combination of balm x cream, on application it’s smooth and transparent; and we think that this protective and healing Intensive Age Repair & Lip Cream will soon become your new best friend, as we fast approach a chilly autumn.

If you're looking to help out the environment and reap the potent skin benefits, Vemel can help you jumpstart your waterless skincare journey. To try out their award-winning Intense Age Repair Eye & Lip Cream, you can purchase it here at £45.00 for 30g. 

2022 Beauty Shortlist & Wellbeing Awards - Are Now Open for Entry!

Good to grow: 2022 Beauty Shortlist & Wellbeing Awards open for entries with new blue beauty and plantable beauty categories and fresh faces on the judging panel.

Entries have opened for the upcoming Beauty Shortlist Awards which will celebrate the highest-scoring brands and products that celebrate NATURE on Wednesday 2 March 2022.

Honouring the most-loved earth-safe and ocean-safe beauty and wellness products – all tested by experts – the ethical, natural and organic showcase returns with over 40 new categories embracing blue and green beauty, more age-specific skincare and self-care categories, eco-packaging, holistic health, eco innovation, nutrition, aromatherapy, CBD and more.

2022 BEAUTY SHORTLIST & WELLBEING AWARDS ENTRY FORM (ENTRIES CLOSE 29 OCTOBER)

ENTRY FORM

If you had to pick the most stellar month of the year for beauty and the planet, September would be up there: Organic September, a new season with lots of new launches, the Great British Beach Clean, World Car Free Day - and it’s FSC week soon, celebrating & raising awareness of responsible forestry 🌳

Never have we lived through a time when comforts and joys have been more important to our wellbeing - and it’s exactly those that are celebrated every year at the Beauty Shortlist Awards:

You are warmly invited to celebrate the top-scoring beauty, grooming and wellness of the year with the 2022 Beauty Shortlist Awards on Wednesday 2 March.

These independent and 100% sponsor-free global Awards celebrate the highest-scoring ethical brands and products of the year, evaluated by beauty and wellness industry experts:

• natural + organic beauty, personal care

• nutrition, wellness, health supplements, CBD & eco cleaning

• men’s hair, skincare, self-care, body & shower products

Happy September!

Lebarde: Natural Eye Cream Gold Bee

At The Amazing Blog, we think that bees are some of the most important living beings on Earth. After all, 70% of the world's agriculture depends exclusively on bees. We appreciate what they do and, in particular, the benefits that bee's nectar can give to our skin. Today we'd like to share Lebarde, a natural raw skincare made with bee nectar from Caucasian honey bees. It piqued our interest when they won an award in the 2021 The Beauty Shortlist Awards. They very kindly sent us their recent award-winning Natural Eye Cream Gold Bee to try.

Ever since a young age Maia Gigiberia, founder of Lebarde, has always lived a natural and healthy lifestyle, and being part of a family of pharmacists, growing up in Colchis, Georgia, it’s always made her curious about science and the natural world. Interestingly enough, Maia's ancestor was the daughter of King Colchis, who invented the first natural medicines and cosmetics. So, health and beauty come naturally to Maia. After struggling with sensitive skin and being unable to find skincare products that were natural and calming for her skin, Maia started researching local botanicals, florae and bees to create an all-natural, raw skincare range. And with that, she founded Lebarde in 2019. Lebarde has now has three skincare products in the range, made with 100% natural sourced ingredients from Colchis, Georgia's Alps Mountains and nectar of the Caucasian honey bees from the local plants. The Georgian mountains have vibrant flora and fauna which thrive in the non-polluted areas, creating a natural and clean environment where Lebarde sources to make their ingredients. In addition to these botanicals, Georgia is home to the Caucasian honey bee, where they've lived for around 5,500 years. What makes these bees so unique is that they have received 3 Gold medals at international events, where the Georgian Gold Bee has the most extended proboscis -7.3 mm, which is the longest among any the honey-bees; this means that they can extract nectar from the deepest nectar tissues where no other species can. Lebarde's skincare was recently selected as the Best Special Innovation finalist at Pure Beauty London awards 2020 and the Best Eye Cream Bronze Winner in the UK Global Makeup Awards 2021. 

Lebarde's Natural Eye Cream Gold Bee is natural and free from any artificial chemicals, synthetics, and preservatives and made with only eight simple and clean ingredients: water, olive oil, pin leaf oil, pine needle oil, beeswax, Royal jelly, damascene rose oil and jojoba oil,  The key ingredients here are the bee nectar (Royal jelly) and beeswax from the bees and endemic botanicals found in the Alp mountains of ancient Georgia, Colchis, making it rich in natural retinol, vitamin E, A, and C, antioxidants and natural fatty compounds.  Royal jelly has been found to speed up skin cell renewal, boosting collagen production and helping to protect against UV damage. Beeswax, apart from forming a protective layer that won't clog the pores, it's also full of vitamin A. This vitamin A is a natural retinol that helps to boost collagen around the eyes, reducing dark circles, fine lines, and wrinkles. There is also olive oil full of vitamins A, D, E, and K, which is not only moisturising but is like beeswax and Royal jelly and has strong antibacterial qualities. The pine leaf and pine needle oils here are antimicrobial and soothe skin stopping any inflammation or dryness. The jojoba oil is rich in vitamin E and mimics the skin's sebum, making it ideal for both dry and oily skin. The damascene rose oil is a volatile oil obtained from the fresh flower petals of Damask rose, which has a mild emollient action that helps retain moisture in the skin. Rich in vitamin A and C, the citral here promotes the formation of vitamin A, which helps regenerate the skin's epidermal cells. Combine these eight ingredients, and you have a potent and yet gentle, effective eye cream; which we found to be extremely hydrating and nourishing when applied both day and night. . With no artificial ingredients or fragrance in this Natural Eye Cream, you can almost feel the magic of honey bees, with its powerful anti-inflammatory properties that immediately help to calm any redness or irritation. We think this gentle and luxurious eye cream is perfect for all-natural and raw skincare lovers, and yes, it is another of our #amazingfinds.  To purchase 15ml Lebarde Natural Eye Cream, see here for £79.00.